Well, it was actually a very quiet night at the bottom of the airport runway. I think the last flight we heard was about 10pm then nothing until about 7:45 this morning!
We set off down the coast to see the beautiful little cliff top chapel of Nossa Senhora de Rocha near Porches. It a really lovely place with stunning beaches and rocks either side. Apparently, popular for weddings but we don’t think you’d get many guests in there! I wanted to walk along the clifftop path but we were worried about leaving the van in a deserted car park, so we drove inland to Silves instead.
We’d booked ahead onto a motorhome site down by the river but when we got there, the barrier was down and reception locked up. Guy rang them up and the man said ‘I’m not there’ 🤣…’but I’ll give you the code for the barrier and I’ve placed a stone in the middle of your pitch, but you can choose another if you like’. We drove in and everyone looked at us like we’d come from another planet – I think most were worried that we might put them in the shade if we parked next door! This is why I prefer carparks. Still, it’s safe and secure for €9 with services, so perfect really.
Silves is a nice old town dominated by a Moorish castle of a striking reddish coloured stone. The walls are good for walking around and looking at the views, but I would’ve been happier with a few more hand rails on the steep drops. We also went underground, to what I think was the old water cistern for the town, it now houses a display about the Iberian Lynx that used to be in the area.
On to the cathedral or Sé. Here, in the entrance, we interrupted an intense conversation between two ladies – one of them (christened Miss Dunkin Donuts from ‘Love Actually’ by Guy) managed a very surly ‘2 euros’ before going straight back to her conversation 😂 The cathedral was quite nice inside though.
We followed the cobbled streets down through the town and somehow ended up in Lidl, where Guy bought not 2, but 4 Pastéis de Nata (Portuguese custard tarts). Obviously, I’ve had to save him from himself and eat two of them.
We are now Mr and Mrs Dunkin Donuts! 🤣🤣
